Health and social care core values

Care values are beliefs about the right ways to treat people who use care services
Health and social workers need to understand and demonstrate a number of different care
values in practice including confidentiality, dignity and respect
Confidentiality
 It is one of the key core values of health and social care workers
 It means making sure that only people who need to know or have a right to know have
access to confidential information relating to an individual or their care needs.
 It is not about keeping things secrets
 It is about sharing, transmitting and storing information about a person in an
appropriate manner to meet their needs.
 As and when appropriate it can be shared with colleagues based on the needs.
 There are several type of information a health and social care worker are expected to
maintain confidential this includes physical and mental health status and history
 Personal details to do with their identity such as religion and sexual orientation
 Physical measurements such as weight and height
 Test and investigation results such as blood and urine tests and x-rays
 Family information to do with relationships and personal history
 Financial and legal matters
Safe Storage of Records
 all the information should be stored in a safe and secured manner either
manually or electronically using record keeping system.
 All the records be it is manual or electronically stored should be protected
 Confidential information should be locked in cupboards or in cabinets and
only members who are authorised should have access to this information.
 Visitors and general public should not be allowed to access the restricted
areas.
 Never leave care records, notes or reports in open or in public areas of the care
settings and ensuring that staff cannot be overheard when making or receiving
telephone calls about individuals or care related issues.
 Records stored in computer, mass storage drives should be encrypted and
secured
 Only authorised people should be allowed to access these kind of information
 It is the duty of health and social care worker to ensure all the electronic items
are safe and secure.
 Some of the things a health and social care worker will have to follow are
never share your computer username and password with other workers
 After using computers all the files should be closed and the computer should
be logged off
 Passwords and security codes should be changed on a regular basis
 Working one records at a time and all work should be saved and the
information should be doubled checked for any errors.
  When providing information about the individual to the public only initials
should be used and the information shared should be as minimum as possible.
 The information of the client should be stored and recorded only in the
systems which are authorised by the employer.
Not discussing confidential information
 There are times in which health care workers are expected to keep the information
confidential eg: misbehaviour of the child should be kept confidential it should not be
shared with your friends and family members and it should be kept confidential.
 When questioned about confidential information about the service user the
information should not be shared.
 Confidential information should be breached when the individual has the rights to
privacy.
 Health care workers are not supposed to gossip about the service user or an incident
that took place at work failing which they are betraying the trust of the service users
and co-workers.
Not Sharing information without written permission
 all the information relating the service user such as health, social, personal should be
kept confidential.
 This information should not be shared with others.
 The information sharing can take place if there is a written request in place
 There are several circumstances under which health care workers will be under
pressure to share confidential information with members of family members.
 Police officer, council official or employer requesting personal information.
 Any informal request made in relation to service user information should be declined
 When request for personal information are made health care workers should make a
note of such request and inform the manager and supervisor who can then decide how
best to deal with it.
When must confidentiality be broken?
 There are occasions where confidentiality can be broken
 These are situation in which the service needs to be protected or to protect others
 These are the information that the health care worker knows already or has witnessed
it.
 Example: a person is at risk of harm such as showing suicidal behaviour
 A person has committed or is about to commit a crime
 A health or safety of others is at risk
 Abuse of a child or adult is disclosed or suspected
 A court orders certain information to be disclosed.
 Under these situation a health and social worker should share confidential information
with other people such as co-workers, the police or with doctor which allows to
protect the safety of the individual.
Dignity
  Dignity in relation to care involves treating people as individual and enabling them to
maintain the maximum possible level of independence choice and control over their
own lives.
Dignity in Practice
 Health care workers are expected to treat the service user with respect and dignity at
all time
 Service user privacy should be maintained while providing personal care.
 The service user dignity should be protected while doing personal care this includes
dressing, undressing, showering etc.
 Simple precaution should be taken by the health care workers this includes keeping
the door closed, curtains down, not leaving the service user partly dressed etc.
 Knocking the room door before entering and checking the person if they are alright.
 Preserving someone’s dignity through appropriate action is a very important way of
showing the person that you value them as an individual.
 It also shows that the health or social care worker acknowledges the individual rights,
whatever their needs, problems or personal difficulties.
Respect
 Showing respect for individuals and their families is a very important part of health
and social care workers.
 Everyone should be valued and respected.
 People feel respected when treated equally with their wishes, needs and preferences
 Their beliefs, culture and traditions are acknowledged as an important part of who
they are.
 Health and social workers use inclusive, non-discriminatory language that avoids
stereotypes, prejudices and stigmatised words.
 Health and social care workers are non-judgemental and discuss a person’s particular
needs, problems and concerns in a open minded way.
 Showing interest in cultural, religious traditions and take part in a appropriate way in
celebrating festivals and events that are significant for them and their community.
Safeguarding Individuals
 Most adults can protect themselves from threats and harm they are not vulnerable to
abuse or neglect and can meet their own daily living and care needs.
 Some children and adult who use health and social care needs safeguarding.
 Children and adults living in care are more vulnerable and are at a greater risk of
abuse, neglect and exploitation
 They are unable to meet their own needs independently.
 To safeguard individuals from danger, harm a health care worker will have to
understand the signs
 Be aware of any signs or indicators of abuse or exploitation
 Establish supportive, trusting and respectful relationships and ensure individual feels
safe and able to communicate their concerns or disclose distress
  Ensure that their own health and hygiene does not pose a threat to the health and
safety of others and that they manage their personal safety at work.
 Follow the infection control, moving and handling, accident and waste disposal
procedure set out in their employer’s health and safety policies.
 Make use of any risk assessments that have been carried out to minimise health and
safety hazards.
 Respond appropriately to security risks in the workplace.
 Report health and safety, and security issues to relevant people.
Duty of care
 Health and social workers owe duty of care toward those they support and care for
 It means they should do things that are reasonably can, at all times and act in the best
interest of the service users.
 Putting the needs and interest of the clients at the centre of their thoughts and actions
 Always ensuring that what they do or don’t do will not be harmful to the health and
wellbeing of the people they support or care for.
 Develop knowledge and understanding and skills needed to perform their work role
well
 Working within their own level of competence and not taking on or agreeing to carry
out tasks that exceeds this.
 Following the agreed ways of working within their care setting that are outlined in
their employer’s policies and procedures
 Following current relevant codes of practice relating to their area of health or social
care work.
Duty of care dilemmas
 Health and social care workers sometimes face dilemma because the duty of care
conflicts the individual rights
 Ensure individual rights are always respected eg: right to privacy of left alone or not
wanting to eat food or take medicine
 Always act in the best interest of the individual
 There care worker should look to find ways to balance the individual rights to make
their own choices with risks involved in the activity
 When care workers are not sure about what course of action to be taken, they should
seek for advice with managers and supervisors.
Person Centred Approaches to care delivery
 This is aimed at providing the type of service a person needs based on their values,
needs, preferences
 This should be done in accordance to the needs and wishes of the service user.
 This includes assessment of their needs, care delivery or support planning
 All care planning should focused and centred around day to day activities
 Health care worker should understand who they are caring for and they should also
understand the important people in the life of the respective service users.
  Each individual will have different needs and wishes hence it is very important to
develop a person centre care plan to meet the needs of the individual person.
Empowering vulnerable people
 it is very important that health and social workers look to support the needs of the
service user at the same time promote independence hence they don’t become too
much dependent on the service that is provided to them.
 Promoting person centred care, considering individual rights, preferences, needs,
likes and dislikes.
 Working in partnership with individuals receiving care or support to promote their
autonomy
 Promoting and supporting choice
 Adapting their communication skills.
Promoting active and full participation
 An active participation approach in health and social care involves treating the people
who us services as active partners in the care giving process
 This is a working with approach than a doing things approach
 Active participation prevents individual from becoming passive recipients of care or
support services.
 To encourage active participation health and social care workers needs to put the
individual goals, wishes and preference first to promote their wellbeing
 Use positive working practices to focus on what the individual can do
 Find and adapt resources, services and facilities that meet the individual’s particular
PIES needs
 Work in partnership with the individual and other important people including family
and professionals.
Adapting activities and environment
 There are several factors that will limit an individual independence this includes
physical, sensory or learning disabilities or mental health problems, dementia.
 The barrier that an individual face to meet their needs and live independently eg:
adapting to the new environment, mobility problem etc
 Health and social worker will have to find out the individual needs to understand the
kind of help and support the person will need.
Planning person centred care
 Adopting a person centred approach to care planning and delivery is an effective way
of encouraging active participation.
 Person centred approaches make health and social care workers focus on the needs
wishes and abilities of a each individuals
 Person centred approach helps in empowering a person.
 It helps to meet the needs of the person at the same time it allows to treat the service
user with dignity and respect.
 A care plan should have individual assess needs for care
 A person’s circumstances and current level of support
 The required outcomes
 The individual views about the desired outcomes
 Planned forms of support or interventions
 Timescales for implementing and reviewing the care plan.
 Individual views regarding their needs and circumstances
 The individual’s own priorities
 The individual’s strengths, interests, dislikes and likes
 Way the individuals wants to live their life
 Ways the individual prefer to have their needs met
 People who are important to the person and who provide their support network.
Overcoming difficulties in promoting person centred care
 Lack of funding to pay for the equipment or other resources needed by an
individual
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